Predicting Polymer Serviceability for Wear Applications

The following limitations of present polymer wear tests are discussed: it is difficult to get feedback on service life tests; pressure-velocity (PV) and wear (K) factor tests ignore counterface wear and geometry and are best used only for “internal screening;” and standard wear tests are limited in number and scope of applicability.

The suggested approach for predicting the wear of polymers is to use published wear data for screening candidate materials and then conduct simulative tests duplicating as many operating parameters as is practical. A case history of a bearing development project is presented to illustrate this approach.